Sermon preached at 11am Eucharist at St Alphege Church on Sunday 21st June 2009.
Second Sunday after Trinity, Proper 7, Year B.
Readings: Job 38:1-11 2 Corinthians 6: 1-13 Mark 4: 35-41
Our gospel reading today presents Jesus to us as the one whom the wind and sea obey. When the disciples were fearful of storm that was threatening their boat, they woke Jesus up. He rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still”. And the wind ceased and there was a dead calm. The disciples were filled with awe and were forced to ponder, “Who then is this that the wind and sea obey him?”
Well in our first reading from Job, we heard God remind Job that it was he, God, who laid out the foundations of the earth, who determined its measurements, who shut in the sea and set bounds for it and said, “Thus far shall you come and no further.” So control of the elements, and especially control of the sea, is seen as a characteristic of God. Jesus’ ability to control the wind and the sea suggests powerfully that Jesus is divine, that he comes from God.
And it seems to be particularly significant that Jesus can give orders to the sea. The bible commentaries tell us that the Sea of Galilee is particularly prone to sudden changes of weather and dramatic and unexpected storms that have great power to destroy. Because of this, the commentaries say, that the sea was commonly seen as a symbol of all that was unruly and uncontrollable, and especially of evil spirits that seek to defy God. And yet even the sea obeys Jesus.
And there is an interesting parallel here with the very first miracle that Jesus performs in Mark’s gospel (Mark 1: 21-28). Jesus is teaching in a synagogue in Capernaum when a man appears who has an unclean spirit. The unclean spirit cries out to Jesus, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are, the Holy One of God.” Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, throwing him into convulsions and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. And all who saw it were amazed, and asked one another, “Who is this who teaches with such authority, who can command even the unclean spirits and they obey him?”
These two stories in Mark’s gospel present Jesus to us as divine, as coming from God. And Jesus has extraordinary authority to command the natural elements, the wind and the sea, and also the unclean spirits, the forces of evil in our world. And this is very particularly powerful. In theology we think of the Devil and the Fallen Angles as having been created good by God, but as having exercised their own free will to rebel against God. It is precisely their rebellion against God, their disobedience to God, which makes them evil. And yet here, it seems, they have to obey Jesus. Perhaps, facing a direct command from Jesus, they have little choice. As the psalmist says of the wicked, “They are like the chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked shall not be able to stand in the judgement.” (Psalm 1: 4-5)
These stories invite us to reflect on God’s and his relationship with his creation. As Christians we believe that God takes an intimate interest in all aspects of his creation. God did not set creation up and then just leave it to unwind, like some old alarm clock that is running out of steam. Rather, God works continually on his creation, sustaining all that exists and drawing forth new things. God is always steering creation towards a fuller perfection. We describe as God’s “providence” the extraordinary and ever developing plan of love whereby God draws all things forward towards fulfilment and perfection. Now we are all called to participate in God’s creative work. We are all called to co-operate with his providence and to make our own contribution to God’s creation. Most obviously this happens when parents have children. I quite rightly say that I was created by God, but I also know that my parents played an important part in my creation. God’s providence works through the very smallest things and through the very greatest things. For the very smallest things, Jesus tells us that even the hairs of our head are all numbered (Matt 10:30). For the very greatest things we can think of the power of kings and rulers. At his trial, Jesus tells Pilot that all the power that Pilot has as Roman ruler comes to him only because it is given from above, by God’s providence.
And there is another mysterious and extraordinary aspect of God’s providence. We all have free will. We all have the possibility of choosing to work against God, against his providence and to do evil. But God’s providence is always greater than evil; it can always draw good out of what is bad. Even the greatest disaster possible, when the creator of the world is crucified by those he created, God’s providence was able to reveal the resurrection and the defeat of sin and death and freedom and new life in Christ. God makes all things work together for good for those who love him (Rom 8: 28). As Julian of Norwich put it, “I must earnestly believe in what the Lord showed in this time; that all manner of things shall be well.
So how do we co-operate with God’s providence? How do we play our part in God’s creative work. Well the first things is to walk in the way of love, because God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God in them (1 John 4: 16). If we are abiding in God, then we are sharing in his creative work. And if God is abiding in us then God is sharing in our creative work. Then, as a next thing, I think it is important to be attentive to God in each present moment of our lives; to seek to live each present moment well as a gift for God. Of course, in most present moments of our lives we are doing very normal things; walking, talking, working, resting, playing but we can still seek to do these things well, and as a gift for God and as love for the people around us. The more moments in our lives that are lived for God, the more consistent we become and easier it is for God to bring about his purposes through us.
In the boat, in our gospel story, Jesus scolds his disciples for their lack of faith. So let’s have faith. Let’s learn to trust ever more deeply in the providence of God. Even when things seem to go badly let’s trust that God loves us, and is working for our good. Let’s seek always to grow in love, and to be attentive to what God wants from us in each present moment. In this way we can share in God’s work, we can become expressions of God’s providence, of his great love that creates, sustains and redeems. We can become more like Jesus and be great gifts of God’s love for other people.
21 June 2009
07 June 2009
Growing up in worship
Sermon preached at Solihull School Chapel, 6.30pm Eucharist on Sunday 7th June 2009.
Choir present: boys and men. Trinity Sunday – Year B
Readings: Isaiah 6: 1-8 and John 3: 1-17
I would like you to cast your minds back to when you were little, when you were about three and used to play at being like the grown ups; play at being like Mum and Dad. And perhaps you had some toys to help you to do that. Did you have one of those little plastic vacuum cleaners so you could walk round behind Mum, doing the cleaning? I am sure that some us here had those little plastic lawnmowers that you could push round and they would throw up some green beads that looked like grass clippings. And then there are those red and yellow Little Tikes coupe cars you could ride around in – how cool were they?
Now someone might say, “It’s very silly for the children to play at being grown ups, because they are not grown ups, and that’s not a real lawnmower; its made of plastic.” And in one way this is quite true, but in another way it completely misses the point. Children are pre-programmed to grow up into adults. Playing at being an adult is an important part of growing up. It shows that the children understand their destiny, their calling. It shows that they want to grow up to be adults; they want to be part of the adult world, to share in the adult world, and to make their contribution alongside the other adults. And this is a very good thing. It gives us good grounds for hoping that these children will indeed one day grow up and take their right place in the adult world.
Now, what I want to suggest to you this evening is that rather like children, who are pre-programmed to grow into adults, we Christians on earth are pre-programmed to grow up into saints in heaven. This is what God created us for. This is our true destiny. This is where we find fulfilment, the full realisation of God’s creation in us. And just as it takes time for a child to grow into an adult, so it takes time for a Christian to grow into a saint in heaven. And just as children need a lot of love, encouragement, teaching and example to grow up into adults so Christians need love, encouragement, teaching and example from God, and the saints and from good people in order to grow up to become saints in heaven. And just as it is natural and good and helpful for children to play at being adults, so it is natural and good and helpful for Christians to play at being saints in heaven.
In our gospel today Jesus tells Nicodemus that he needs to believe about earthly things before he has any chance of believing about heavenly things. In the same way we Christians have to live good Christian lives on earth before we can hope to live the lives of the saints in heaven. And there are many different aspects to living a good Christian life on earth. But today I would like to focus on just one aspect of our earthly Christian lives; our worship of God.
On Trinity Sunday we often sing my favourite hymn, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty.” The hymn presents us with a vision of God seated on the throne of heaven in his power and glory, being worshiped by all the angels and saints:
Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.
This description of the worship of the saints in heaven is mainly based on chapters 4 and 5 of the Book of Revelation, the last book in the bible. But today we heard, in our first scripture reading, of another vision of heaven coming from the prophet Isaiah, probably in the eighth century BC. Yet the similarities are striking. The seraphs are in attendance. Those words “Holy, Holy, Holy” crop up again. There is great power and splendour and majesty and the pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
And for Isaiah, a mere human, in mortal flesh, aware of his sin this is an overwhelming experience. He is filled with a perplexing mix of awe and wonder and fear. These are the emotions of our Anthem, “Let all mortal flesh keep silence”. We are painfully aware that anything as earthly as human flesh might simply melt aware before the mysterious majesty of God’s presence. Isaiah says, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips”. But the seraphs purify Isaiah from his sin using a burning coal. Nothing is said, but I imagine that the burning coal was very painful. Certainly our experience of the Christian life is that there is usually a cost, some kind of suffering or pain or hard work associated with being purified from sin. But them suddenly it seems that Isaiah can stand in the glory of heaven and can respond positively to the Lord’s invitation. “Here am I, send me” he replies. The worship of heaven and the presence of God have transformed him. They have given him his role, his identity.
These visions (and others in the bible e.g. Daniel 7 or Ezekiel 1) give us some insights into the life of heaven, and the worship that takes place there. And there is a sense in which our worship on earth is seeking to copy this, the great worship of heaven. Many of the visions of heaven talk about music and singing and certainly we do this in our worship on earth. In this chapel a great deal of effort and energy goes into the organ and singing and we do our best to do these things very well, in order to worship as well as possible. And in our worship we have a rite of repentance and forgiveness, so that like Isaiah we can be purified and made whole. We have periods of silence, in which we seek to be aware of our own nothingness before the awesome presence of God. Sometimes we copy the worship of heaven with loud singing, maybe even enough to make the pivots of the thresholds shake! Sometimes we use incense and we do our best to fill the house with smoke, as in the Isaiah vision. Certainly we use those words Holy, Holy, Holy in every Eucharist, often singing them in Latin: Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus.
Now we know that all this worship on earth is a bit like child’s play compared to the great worship of the saints in heaven. But just as children who play at being adults do eventually grow up to be adults so we hope and aspire that through our worship on earth
we will eventually grow up to become saints in heaven. We will be joined forever in that great and eternal worship of heaven. Amen.
Choir present: boys and men. Trinity Sunday – Year B
Readings: Isaiah 6: 1-8 and John 3: 1-17
I would like you to cast your minds back to when you were little, when you were about three and used to play at being like the grown ups; play at being like Mum and Dad. And perhaps you had some toys to help you to do that. Did you have one of those little plastic vacuum cleaners so you could walk round behind Mum, doing the cleaning? I am sure that some us here had those little plastic lawnmowers that you could push round and they would throw up some green beads that looked like grass clippings. And then there are those red and yellow Little Tikes coupe cars you could ride around in – how cool were they?
Now someone might say, “It’s very silly for the children to play at being grown ups, because they are not grown ups, and that’s not a real lawnmower; its made of plastic.” And in one way this is quite true, but in another way it completely misses the point. Children are pre-programmed to grow up into adults. Playing at being an adult is an important part of growing up. It shows that the children understand their destiny, their calling. It shows that they want to grow up to be adults; they want to be part of the adult world, to share in the adult world, and to make their contribution alongside the other adults. And this is a very good thing. It gives us good grounds for hoping that these children will indeed one day grow up and take their right place in the adult world.
Now, what I want to suggest to you this evening is that rather like children, who are pre-programmed to grow into adults, we Christians on earth are pre-programmed to grow up into saints in heaven. This is what God created us for. This is our true destiny. This is where we find fulfilment, the full realisation of God’s creation in us. And just as it takes time for a child to grow into an adult, so it takes time for a Christian to grow into a saint in heaven. And just as children need a lot of love, encouragement, teaching and example to grow up into adults so Christians need love, encouragement, teaching and example from God, and the saints and from good people in order to grow up to become saints in heaven. And just as it is natural and good and helpful for children to play at being adults, so it is natural and good and helpful for Christians to play at being saints in heaven.
In our gospel today Jesus tells Nicodemus that he needs to believe about earthly things before he has any chance of believing about heavenly things. In the same way we Christians have to live good Christian lives on earth before we can hope to live the lives of the saints in heaven. And there are many different aspects to living a good Christian life on earth. But today I would like to focus on just one aspect of our earthly Christian lives; our worship of God.
On Trinity Sunday we often sing my favourite hymn, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty.” The hymn presents us with a vision of God seated on the throne of heaven in his power and glory, being worshiped by all the angels and saints:
Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.
This description of the worship of the saints in heaven is mainly based on chapters 4 and 5 of the Book of Revelation, the last book in the bible. But today we heard, in our first scripture reading, of another vision of heaven coming from the prophet Isaiah, probably in the eighth century BC. Yet the similarities are striking. The seraphs are in attendance. Those words “Holy, Holy, Holy” crop up again. There is great power and splendour and majesty and the pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
And for Isaiah, a mere human, in mortal flesh, aware of his sin this is an overwhelming experience. He is filled with a perplexing mix of awe and wonder and fear. These are the emotions of our Anthem, “Let all mortal flesh keep silence”. We are painfully aware that anything as earthly as human flesh might simply melt aware before the mysterious majesty of God’s presence. Isaiah says, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips”. But the seraphs purify Isaiah from his sin using a burning coal. Nothing is said, but I imagine that the burning coal was very painful. Certainly our experience of the Christian life is that there is usually a cost, some kind of suffering or pain or hard work associated with being purified from sin. But them suddenly it seems that Isaiah can stand in the glory of heaven and can respond positively to the Lord’s invitation. “Here am I, send me” he replies. The worship of heaven and the presence of God have transformed him. They have given him his role, his identity.
These visions (and others in the bible e.g. Daniel 7 or Ezekiel 1) give us some insights into the life of heaven, and the worship that takes place there. And there is a sense in which our worship on earth is seeking to copy this, the great worship of heaven. Many of the visions of heaven talk about music and singing and certainly we do this in our worship on earth. In this chapel a great deal of effort and energy goes into the organ and singing and we do our best to do these things very well, in order to worship as well as possible. And in our worship we have a rite of repentance and forgiveness, so that like Isaiah we can be purified and made whole. We have periods of silence, in which we seek to be aware of our own nothingness before the awesome presence of God. Sometimes we copy the worship of heaven with loud singing, maybe even enough to make the pivots of the thresholds shake! Sometimes we use incense and we do our best to fill the house with smoke, as in the Isaiah vision. Certainly we use those words Holy, Holy, Holy in every Eucharist, often singing them in Latin: Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus.
Now we know that all this worship on earth is a bit like child’s play compared to the great worship of the saints in heaven. But just as children who play at being adults do eventually grow up to be adults so we hope and aspire that through our worship on earth
we will eventually grow up to become saints in heaven. We will be joined forever in that great and eternal worship of heaven. Amen.
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